AgingIN Elevates the Small House Movement on the Global Stage.

November is always a meaningful month in aging services. As we honor National Family Caregivers Month and recognize Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, we’re reminded of the countless families, care partners, and professionals whose daily commitment makes person-directed living possible. Their dedication is the heartbeat of this movement—and their stories anchor our purpose.

That’s why last week felt especially powerful as I represented AgingIN at the Global Ageing Network and LeadingAge National Conference in Boston. It was a moment where global momentum and personal mission intersected—showcasing how far the small house movement has come and how deeply it resonates with caregivers and leaders around the world.

One of the highlights was joining Barry Berman and Betsy Mullen in welcoming international colleagues to the Green House homes at the Leonard Florence Center for Living. As we toured the homes together, leaders from around the world witnessed firsthand what person-directed living truly looks like … vibrant households, meaningful choice, and environments designed for dignity.

AgingIN’s global leadership was further spotlighted during my presentation with partners from Belong Village in the UK and Hammond Care in Australia. Together, we introduced the newly formed Global Household Consortium, a collaborative effort to propel small-house models across continents. The enthusiasm in the room made it clear: the world is ready for this transformation.

Throughout the week, conversations with changemakers from every corner of aging services reaffirmed the urgency of this work—and the growing recognition of AgingIN as a catalyst for culture change.

Seeing AgingIN’s mission elevated and the Green House model celebrated on such a prominent global platform was energizing and affirming. I returned from Boston inspired, grateful, and more committed than ever to advancing person-directed living around the world.

Giving Tuesday: When You Give, You Grow Better Care. Here’s How We Know.

As Giving Tuesday nears, we’re reminded why your support matters. Care partners like Francisco from Brio Living, who learned to cook from a resident who became his teacher, show how powerful person-directed living can be. Through AgingIN’s training, he gained new skills and renewed purpose, creating better days for the people he supports.

Your Giving Tuesday gift helps AgingIN educate, coach, uplift, and empower care professionals.

Please give here. No gift is too small!

National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month: Reimagining What’s Possible.

November invites us to deepen our understanding of Alzheimer’s and reaffirm our commitment to dignified, person-directed memory care. In small-house environments, where daily life feels familiar and relationships come first, people living with dementia experience greater comfort, connection, and well-being.

AgingIN’s Best Life Memory Care Model builds on this promise—focusing on possibility, retained abilities, meaningful engagement, and the dignity of risk. Through our education and training, communities learn how to support individuals living with dementia to experience purpose and joy every day.

Learn more about Best Life here.

To every caregiver: we see you, we honor you, and we thank you.

This month, we recognize the nearly 12 million unpaid dementia caregivers across the U.S. who give their time, energy, and love to support someone living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. In 2024 alone, caregivers provided 19 billion hours of care—often while carrying significant emotional and physical stress. Not just in November when it’s National Caregivers Month, but every month at AgingIN, we recognize the special gift you offer.

2025 & 2026 Education & Events.

Grow Your Skills. Grow Your Culture. Grow What’s Possible.

As we look toward a new year, AgingIN is bringing together leaders, care teams, and changemakers for a series of learning experiences designed to spark innovation and help communities thrive. Whether you’re strengthening your workforce culture, reimagining skilled nursing, elevating memory care, or building alignment across your organization, these upcoming events offer practical tools and inspiring ideas to help you move forward with purpose.

Upcoming Learning Opportunities:

WEBINAR: Who Says Skilled Nursing Doesn’t Work: Where Margin Meets Mission (Part 1 & 2)
For-profit and nonprofit leaders share practical strategies for small-house success both culturally and financially with taking up to 60% Medicaid residents.

Part 1: December 4, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. ET
With John Ponthie (Southern Administrative Services), a quality for-profit skilled nursing provider with more than 70 Green House communities nationwide.

Part 2: December 11, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. ET
With nonprofit leader Deke Cateau of A.G. Rhodes, one of the only mission-driven nonprofit nursing home providers in Georgia.

Register here.

WEBINAR: Unwrap AgingIN: Discover Our Services & Win Festive Prizes
December 10, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. ET & January 8, 2026 | Noon ET
A great way to kick off 2026. Learn how AgingIN supports communities across all care settings. Includes a BONUS Brain Bytes preview of research on healthy aging and brain health.

REIMAGINE AGING CARE MODEL Symposium: Reach Your Pinnacle of Human-Centered Care
January 21–22, 2026 | Poydras Home, New Orleans, LA
A two-day, in-person symposium for executives and innovators exploring the next frontier of human-centered care. Includes keynotes, design tours, and actionable strategies for person-directed and small-house living.

Register here.

VIRTUAL 9-WEEK COURSE: Leading Empowered Cultures — Building Strong Teams from the Inside Out
Weekly January–March 2026 | Thursdays, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET
A virtual leadership experience for Executive Directors, Administrators, Nurse Leaders, and Managers who want to cultivate confident, values-driven teams.

5-DAY SPRING INTENSIVE: Train the Trainer — Elevating Your Workforce
March 2–6, 2026 | Poydras Home, New Orleans, LA
An immersive Educator Course equipping leaders to train and sustain person-directed living across AL, MC, skilled nursing, and small-house settings. Participants leave with facilitation skills, coaching support, a complete Educator Toolkit, and a copy of Being Mortal.

The Event of the Year: August 10-13, 2026. The AgingINnovation 2026 Conference in Denver.

There are many wonderful conferences in our field, but if you had to choose just one in 2026, this is the one you don’t want to miss. Every year, participants tell us this conference changes them.

This August, the AgingINnovation Conference returns to Denver for three extraordinary days designed to expand your thinking, elevate your practice, and reignite your purpose. It’s where the latest global research meets practical, person-directed approaches that you can bring home immediately, combined with stellar leadership topics and inspiration.

If you have team members who might be feeling stretched thin or on the edge of burnout, this conference is the perfect reset. They’ll leave energized, inspired, and equipped with new tools from cutting-edge behavior and care research straight from academic collaborators to proven coaching frameworks that support workforce resilience.

Pre-Conference Wellness
With robust science confirming the impact of brain health practices, dementia-delay strategies, nutrition, and movement along with new findings emerging almost daily, AgingIN is committed to bringing this knowledge directly into practice. This session will feature thought leaders translating cutting-edge research into actionable steps your community can adopt immediately.

You’ll hear from powerhouse speakers shaping the future of culture, workforce transformation, and eldercare innovation. You’ll learn alongside colleagues who share your vision and values. And you’ll experience the kind of connection, courage, and clarity that define AgingIN’s approach to changing the field.

AgingIN: Resources That Support Every Care Setting.

Across the aging services landscape, one truth remains constant: every older adult deserves to live with dignity, purpose, and the freedom to direct their own life, no matter where they call home. AgingIN exists to help organizations make that vision real.

Whether your community operates assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, PACE programs, or home- and community-based services, AgingIN offers practical, proven resources to strengthen care environments and empower the people who live and work within them. Our approach meets providers exactly where they are, helping teams build confidence, improve outcomes, and create cultures where person-directed living becomes the norm—not the exception.

Visit our Services page to learn more about how AgingIN can support your team, your strategy, and your mission.

Thanksgiving. Honoring Those Who Care, and Those We Care For.

As we enter this season of gratitude, the AgingIN team extends our heartfelt thanks to the care professionals, researchers, executives, advocates, and community partners who dedicate their talents to supporting older adults. We are also very thankful to our supporters who make our work possible.

Your commitment, often quiet (often unseen), creates moments of dignity, joy, and connection that ripple far beyond any single day or shift. You make aging better for all of us, and we are deeply grateful.

We also hold close every older adult across our communities, care settings, and homes. Our wish for you this Thanksgiving is simple and heartfelt: may you find connection and belonging, may your table be filled with soulful dining shared with people who appreciate you, and may the days ahead offer meaningful experiences that nourish your spirit.

Thank you for being part of a movement that proves, every day, that aging is living and that we all thrive when we lift one another up.

Warm holiday wishes from all of us at AgingIN.

Good Food = Good Living. Let’s Get It Right.

Did you know AgingIN offers dining consulting? Our registered dietitian is ready to support your team with person-directed dining practices, quality improvements, and small-house dining approaches that honor choice, autonomy, and joy at the table. Because if anything should be person-directed, it’s food. Read more about our services.

Research By the Numbers
Below are just a few of the research-backed reasons why supporting AgingIN’s work along with the movement toward person-directed care, makes such a meaningful difference:

  • In a quasi-experimental study of 259 dementia residents, those in small‑scale homes used fewer physical restraints and less psychotropic medication, and showed greater social engagement after 6–12 months (de Rooij et al., 2012).
  • In a controlled trial of 145 residents, those who moved from a large-scale skilled nursing center into a small, homelike setting experienced a significant reduction in anxiety over eight months (de Boer et al., 2018).
  • A scoping review found that small-scale, homelike care settings tend to outperform traditional nursing homes in terms of quality of care, social stimulation, emotional well‑being, and overall quality of life (Verbeek et al., 2021).
  • According to data from The Green House Project, staff turnover in their skilled nursing homes was 33.5% in 2021 (among certified nursing assistants), compared to around 129% in traditional nursing homes before the pandemic (The Green House Project, 2022).
  • During COVID-19, Green House homes reported far lower infection and death rates: in 2021 there were 41.3 COVID-19 cases per 1,000 residents, compared to 612.4 per 1,000 in traditional nursing homes (The Green House Project, 2022).
  • These data clearly illustrate why the Consortium’s push for small-house models could meaningfully improve quality of life, safety, and workforce stability in residential care. Sources cited below.*

AgingIN Job Bank: Now Open (and Free!)

AgingIN is excited to announce that we’re actively populating our new Job Bank, your hub for opportunities across the aging services field. Whether you’re exploring a new role or seeking talented team members who believe in person-directed living, now is the perfect time to jump in.

The best part? It’s completely free right now. Add your listings, browse openings, and help us build a vibrant, connected workforce that lifts up older adults and the professionals who care for them. Visit the Job Bank and get started today.

Dignity Lives in the Details.

Caregivers Need Care Too.

TIP: Start each shift huddle with one simple question: “How’s your energy today?”

This tiny check-in invites honesty, reduces burnout, and gives leaders a chance to redistribute tasks if someone is exhausted or overwhelmed. It doesn’t require a meeting, a form, or a program—just the willingness to notice and respond. Feeling seen is a powerful form of dignity.

*References (APA 7th edition):

  • de Boer, B., Hamers, J. P., Zwakhalen, S. M., & Verbeek, H. (2018). Effects of small-scale, homelike facilities in dementia care on residents’ behavior and use of physical restraints and psychotropic drugs: A quasi-experimental study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 16(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-018-0853-7
  • Verbeek, H., van Rossum, E., Zwakhalen, S. M., Kempen, G. I., & Hamers, J. P. (2021). Small-scale, homelike care facilities in dementia care: A scoping review. Innovation in Aging, 5(5), igaf034. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf034
  • de Rooij, A., Luijkx, K., & van Weert, J. (2012). Small-scale, homelike facilities in dementia care: Effects on residents and staff. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(9), 1465–1475. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610212000473
  • The Green House Project. (2022). Green House model outcomes and COVID-19 impact report. The Green House Project. https://thegreenhouseproject.org